If you’re a working probate attorney, elective share claims loom large in your practice. Which means anytime the thicket of interconnected and complicated statutes making up this body of law gets changed, it’s worth paying attention to. And recently there’s …
4th DCA: Can a surviving spouse’s $12.5 million “elective share” be reduced to pay attorney’s fees?
Blackburn v. Boulis, — So.3d —-, 2016 WL 231405 (Fla. 4th DCA January 20, 2016)
Gus Boulis was a spectacularly successful self-made millionaire with a sixth grade education whose life story was as colorful as it was improbable. And …
2d DCA: When can a second wife subpoena confidential business records of a closely-held corporation founded by her deceased husband?
McDonald v. Johnson, — So.3d —-, 2012 WL 246468 (Fla. 2d DCA January 27, 2012)
What divorce attorneys do and what trusts-and-estates lawyers do overlaps all the time. Often that overlap occurs at the planning stage, when working together …
Can $5 million gift to surviving spouse be conditioned on a prior waiver of her elective-share rights?
In the right circumstances, no-contest or in terrorem clauses can be effective tools to ward off wasteful inheritance litigation. Here’s the problem: these clauses are unenforceable in Florida for public policy reasons, as explained by the 5th DCA in the …
Bkrtcy: Can you time an elective share claim to gain an advantage in bankruptcy?
In re Miller, — B.R. —-, 2010 WL 5184798 (Bkrtcy.S.D.Fla.2010)
Assume Husband "A" and "B" are both recent widowers. Husband "A" inherited $100,000 from his wife. Husband "B" was completely cut out of his wife’s will, but after claiming …
4th DCA: When does a surviving spouse’s “elective share” take an estate-tax hit?
Boulis v. Blackburn, — So.3d —-, 2009 WL 2382358 (Fla. 4th DCA Aug 05, 2009)
The decedent at the heart of this probate battle, Konstantinos “Gus” Boulis, was a Greek immigrant and self-made millionaire who had started as …
2d DCA: Florida’s spousal elective share statute survives constitutional challenge
In re Estate of Magee, — So.2d —-, 2007 WL 2781131 (Fla. 2d DCA Sep 26, 2007)
When all else fails, one way to win a probate dispute is to challenge the portion of the probate code at issue …
Lateral thinking = probate litigation success
Marlowe v. Brown, 944 So.2d 1036 (Fla. 4th DCA Aug 02, 2006)
Being an effective probate litigator often requires lateral thinking — the generation of novel solutions to problems using other than straightforward, step-by-step logic. The point of lateral …
Court says NO to appeal of spousal-elective-share order
Trenchard v. Gray, — So.2d —-, 2007 WL 837294 (Fla. 2d DCA Mar 21, 2007)
In Dempsey v. Dempsey (a 2005 opinion I wrote about here) the 2d DCA ruled on when elective share orders are subject to appeal. Under …
4th DCA: No productive-property clause = failed elective share trust
Janien v. Janien, 2006 WL 2956304 (Fla. 4th DCA Oct 18, 2006)
Under Florida law a surviving widow or widower is entitled to at least 30% of the decedent spouse’s estate. If done properly, an “elective share trust” allows …